BIO- Jim Gerweck

I started fly fishing at the at the age of 14. Popping bugs on Indiana farm ponds for bass and sunfish. My rod was a fiberglass South Bend, probably around 8’ with one of those alphabetically labelled fly line from Cortland. The reel was automatic self-winding-a flick of the pinky and in it came. The rod is long gone, but I still have a few of those reels. Some time in that era, I built my first fiberglass rod from a Herter’s kit. Herter’s was a sporting goods company that sent out a huge black and white catalog which contained everything imaginable and made every kid’s hunting and fishing dreams seem a possibility. I wrapped the guides with a light wire thinking it would be stronger. I still have that rod. Someday I’ll rewrap it-with silk.

As the years passed, I fished with fly for striped bass and bluefish in the Northeast. Trout in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and occasionally Montana and salmon in the Great Lakes. Nothing exotic, but fly fishing was always in my mind.

Today, I am a retired dentist and reside in Fort Collins, Colorado. My home waters fan across the Front Range from Boulder Creek to the Poudre River. Rocky Mountain National Park is a short drive and offers unlimited opportunities for several species in varied waters. My favorite is the meandering Big Thompson River as it winds through the Morraine section of the park. Big browns lurk under cut banks, rainbows in the faster water and brookies in the upper section are always challenging. Elk are constant companions. Of course, Colorado is famous for great fishing in such waters as Cheeseman Canyon, Frying Pan and Yampa Rivers, just to name a few.